Cleaning + Organising + Displays

Keeping organised is always a good idea, it can help you stay calm and enable you to put your hands on any item you need with ease. However, sometimes in our enthusiasm for having a place for everything we can forget organisational tips to ensure proper protection for our valuable and sentimental items. That may mean they age more quickly or are damaged while being stored. This is, of course, completely contrary to the idea of tucking them away for safe keeping in the first place. Luckily, it can be avoided if you follow the organisational tips below. Organisational Tips…

Essential cleaning isn’t only for when you are moving house. But that’s the only time you’ll have every room completely clear of furniture. When you’re moving home, leaving the property in spotless condition is best. If you rent, it will be a condition of your tenancy that you tidy up with essential cleaning for floors, walls, and storage places. If you own your home, it’s a courtesy to the new owners to ensure they can move into a clean and tidy property. Once you’ve cleared out any furniture and other items you own, it probably already looks pretty clean. But…

Junk hoarding can actually be very bad for your health, never mind about your home space. Why? Because living with clutter can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed which leads to a lack of productivity. Really, junk hoarding can do all that? Most of us are planning a tidy-up and clean-out at some point in the near future. It’s just so easy to hoard! If your cupboards and drawers are full of chaos, it’s definitely time to get rid of your junk. Still, sentiment can get in the way, and when do we ever have time for it? Here are…

An allergen-free home is vital for many home swellers who suffer from mild to severe allergies. And in this modern world there are all sorts of home-based causes. There are more potential allergens in the air now than ever before. We have so many toxins enter our body during the day that it can be very hard to get back to a balanced level of health and be allergen-free. You might think that your home is the one place that is completely allergen-free. However you may be surprised to know that your house contains more allergens than you realize. So,…

Downsizing is the new upsizing as rampant consumerism makes way for more care, less glitz, and a return to less opulent values. Once upon a time (not too long ago) upsizing was a natural part of life’s order. The more you earned the more you owned. How times have changed; now downsizing is all the rage with tiny homes and Scandi-inspired minimalism. Moving from a palatial space in the country to a city condo, owning a home to suit your needs and not a home where you have to fill it with stuff. Embracing the minimalist movement or finally making…

Floor cleaning and protection is part on the ongoing maintenance of your home. No matter how hard you try, you’ll always bring in some dirt and grime on your shoes to the inside of your home. This dirt eventually spreads out, accumulates on your floors and causes potential damage. So, if you want to protect your floors and keep your home clean, you must learn proper floor cleaning methods for specific surfaces and how to maintain them. This will save you a lot of money and time on renovations. Since every type of flooring needs to be cleaned, maintained and…

Wall art mistakes are often made innocently enough. I mean, you just hang a picture right? Well, there’s the right way… and the wrong way. If you want ‘home beautiful’ then you need five wall art tips. The necessity of wall art for good interior design is absolute but many people still make simple wall art mistakes. Without some form of artwork, a room will look bare and minimal – and not in the tasteful, Scandi-style way. It’ll be more like the “bare, unfinished, and neglected” style, which it’s fair to say is one that few of us wish to…

I am a lover of art – hanging, object d’art, sculpture, quirky pieces, fabulous finds – but sometimes it’s hard to know how to display your precious memorabilia. Take hanging pictures, for example. They can be tricky, especially if you want to hang a collection together or figure out which pictures should go where. So I asked Sarah Cichy for some perfect hanging ideas. Sarah is the Founder and Director of one of Sydney’s most reputable PR agencies – Piccolo PR – an agency that specialises in homewares and fabulous stuff for kids. Sarah has the enviable job of being…

There are house cleaning ideas for every room and every occasion, so how do you keep up with it all? Of course, anyone who is house proud wants their home to be perfect for residents and guests alike. But let’s face it; House & Garden won’t pop around with a photographer without telling you, right? Nevertheless, keeping a clean and tidy home makes life more pleasant. The difficulty is all life’s dirt and grime being traipsed through your home and the endless level of rubbish and garbage from living, and even from cleaning. Every time you use something for your…

How to maximize space is the war cry of every home dweller. Of course, decluttering is the word on everyone’s lips, but what if you can maximize space without having a huge cleanout? Many people complain that they don’t have enough space but are you making the most of yours? When you look more closely at your home you’ll probably find more space than you thought you had. There are so many ways to use space better so your life will feel less cramped and claustrophobic. Read on to find out more about what I mean. You Could Almost Certainly…

Out of sight, out of mind. Do you remember forgotten areas when you clean? Because it’s very easy to ignore the things we can’t see. Yet not cleaning some ‘out of sight’ areas can impact the enjoyment of our home. Getting to grips with things around your home takes time. There are certain tips, tricks, and hacks that you learn as you go along, but there are some things that you may not have ever realized need doing on a regular basis. It can be hard to clean up neglected areas, at least without hard work, but keeping on top…

When you maximize garage space you’ll find ways to store possessions and engage in activities you may have reserved for the house. The garage can be a neglected source of much needed extra space. Because if there’s one thing that we homeowners complain about time and time again is not having enough room; both inside and outside the house. Even if we were convinced that a three bedroom property with a garden was more than enough when we sealed the purchase all those years ago, it could well be a very different story in the present day. Having children, buying…

Tara Dennis is one of Australia’s most familiar television faces having featured on shows including Our House, Changing Rooms, Burke’s Backyard, DIY Rescue and Renovation Rescue. If you saw my article on the Feast Watson Re-Love Project, where eight high-profile designers up-cycle discarded furniture for charity, you will have seen the ‘before and after’ project by Tara Dennis. Well, Tara’s back. Here she talks to Don’t Call Me Penny about the challenge she faced when updating door hardware for her own home. The outcome sparkled!

Cleaning with bi-carb (bi-carbonate of soda) is virtually the cheapest, most reliable and effective method of cleaning many surfaces and fabrics in your home. It’s an effective cleaning solution for every room in your home plus equipment, drains, silverware, windows and more. So this Cleaning with Bi-Carb series will bring you tips co-ordinated by room and cross-linked with other cleaning with bi-carb tips as new articles are posted. This article focuses on cleaning with bi-carb in the kitchen.

Bedroom storage for kids may be the single most important component of a family home. If your house is anything like mine, there is never enough storage. And then when you want your kids to clean up after themselves too…well, good luck with that! Kids can be taught to clean up and put toys back after use, it just takes some patience…and some really clever bedroom storage for kids that you’ll love to have and they’ll love to use.